Heat exchange ventilation apparatus

ABSTRACT

A heat exchange ventilation apparatus includes: a casing that forms a main body outer shell, in which an air supply path and an exhaust path are formed in inside thereof; an air-supply blower unit that generates an air supply flow in the air supply path; an exhaust blower unit that generates an exhaust flow in the exhaust path; a detachable heat exchanger that performs heat exchange between the air supply flow and the exhaust flow; a heat exchanger rail provided in inside of the casing to support the heat exchanger; and an elastic seal material provided between the heat exchanger rail and the casing. The heat exchanger rail is set to be movable in a direction in which the heat exchanger rail compresses the seal material.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a heat exchange ventilation apparatusthat performs ventilation based on air supply and exhaust whileperforming heat exchange between supply and exhaust flows.

BACKGROUND

A heat exchange ventilation apparatus has a built-in heat exchanger thatperforms heat exchange from air to air, and performs ventilation bysimultaneous air supply and exhaust while performing heat exchange. Theheat exchange ventilation apparatus includes an air supply path forintroducing outdoor air into a room and an air exhaust path fordischarging indoor air to the outside of the room.

The heat exchanger is used together with a pair of filters disposed onupstream sides of the air supply path and the exhaust path. The heatexchanger is relatively frequently attached to and detached from acasing of the heat exchange ventilation apparatus for maintenance of thefilters. The heat exchanger is configured to be moved on rails extendedalong the heat exchanger to be able to be easily attached and detached.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a heat exchange ventilation apparatus inwhich, in attachment and detachment of a heat exchanger, the heatexchanger can be fit in, attached, and retained along rails for heatexchanger attachment and detachment and the heat exchanger can be pulledout and removed along the rails.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.H10-300158

SUMMARY Technical Problem

However, in the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1 listed above,a gap is necessary between a frame of the heat exchanger and a rail toeasily pull out and insert the heat exchanger, thereby causing air leakbetween air supply and exhaust flows. On the other hand, when the frameof the heat exchanger and the rail are closely attached to suppress theleak, it becomes difficult to pull out and insert the heat exchanger.That is, in the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the easinessof the attachment and detachment of the heat exchanger and thesuppression of the air leak between the air supply and exhaust flowshave a tradeoff relation therebetween.

The present invention has been devised in view of the abovecircumstances, and an object of the invention is to provide a heatexchange ventilation apparatus that achieves both of easiness ofattachment and detachment of a heat exchanger and suppression of an airleak between air supply and exhaust flows.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object,the present invention provides a heat exchange ventilation apparatuscomprising: a box body forming a main body outer shell, inside which anair supply path and an exhaust path are formed; an air-supply blowerunit to generate an air supply flow in the air supply path; an exhaustblower unit to generate an exhaust flow in the exhaust path; adetachable heat exchanger to perform heat exchange between the airsupply flow and the exhaust flow; a supporting member provided insidethe box body to support the heat exchanger; and an elastic seal materialprovided between the supporting member and the box body, wherein thesupporting member is set to be movable in a direction in which thesupporting member compresses the seal material.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The heat exchange ventilation apparatus according to the presentinvention has an advantageous effect that it is possible to achieve bothof easiness of attachment and detachment of the heat exchanger andsuppression of an air leak between the air supply and exhaust flows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the heat exchange ventilation apparatusaccording to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger of the heat exchangeventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state before setting of the heat exchanger ofthe heat exchange ventilation apparatus according to the firstembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a heat exchanger rail of the heatexchange ventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the heat exchanger rail of the heat exchangeventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the heat exchanger rail of the heatexchange ventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state of the heat exchanger is of the heatexchange ventilation apparatus according to the first embodimentattached.

FIG. 9 is a front view of an engaging part between the heat exchangerand a casing bottom surface of the heat exchange ventilation apparatusaccording to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an engaging part beteween the heatexchanger and the casing bottom surface of the heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to the first embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

A heat exchange ventilation apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is described in detail below with reference to thedrawings. Note that the present invention is not necessarily limited bythe embodiment.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.2 is a side view of the heat exchange ventilation apparatus according tothe first embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 1, illustration of a casing toppanel 1 f is omitted and the inside of a casing 1 is shown. In FIG. 2,the inside of the casing 1 is visualized and shown while being seenthrough a casing side surface 1 a and a panel 11 for heat exchangermaintenance. The heat exchange ventilation apparatus includes the casing1 that forms a box body of the heat exchange ventilation apparatus, aheat exchanger 10 that is provided between an air supply path 6 and anair exhaust path 7 and causes an air supply flow passing through the airsupply path 6 and an air exhaust flow passing through the exhaust path 7to perform heat exchange, an air-supply blower unit 8 that generates theair supply flow, and an exhaust blower unit 9 that generates the exhaustflow. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the air supply flow is indicated by solid linearrows and the exhaust flow is indicated by broken line arrows.

The casing 1 is a box body having a rectangular parallelepiped shape,and includes: the casing side surface 1 a in which a heat-exchangermaintenance port 13 for maintenance of the heat exchanger 10 is formed;a casing side surface 1 c having an outdoor-side intake port 2 and anindoor-side intake port 4; a casing side surface 1 d having anoutdoor-side blowout port 5 and an indoor-side blowout port 3; a casingside surface 1 e opposed to the casing side surface 1 a; a casing bottomsurface 1 b forming a bottom surface of the box body; and the casing toppanel 1 f forming a top surface of the box body. In the casing 1, theair supply path 6 that causes the outdoor-side intake port 2 and theindoor-side blowout port 3 to communicate with each other to supplyoutdoor air into a room, and the exhaust path 7 that causes theindoor-side intake port 4 and the outdoor-side blowout port 5 tocommunicate with each other to discharge indoor air to the outside ofthe room. The air supply path 6 and the air exhaust path 7 areindependent from each other over entire routes thereof.

The heat exchanger 10 is disposed closer to the casing side surface 1 c.The heat exchanger 10 has a prismatic column shape, and has fourridgelines provided with heat exchanger frames 14. On the other hand,the casing 1 is provided with heat exchanger rails 15 whose sectionalshape is concave. The heat exchanger rails 15 are supporting membersthat support the heat exchanger 10. The heat exchanger 10 is set in astate in which the heat exchanger frames 14 are engaged with recessesformed by the heat exchanger rails 15. That is, cross sections of theheat exchanger rails 15 each have a concave shape with which the heatexchanger frame 14 forming a ridge line of the heat exchanger 10 isengaged.

On the other hand, the air-supply blower unit 8 and the air exhaustblower unit 9 are disposed closer to the casing side surface 1 d. Theair-supply blower unit 8 is disposed on the casing side surface 1 a sideand the exhaust blower unit 9 is disposed on the casing side surface 1 eside along a longitudinal direction of the heat exchanger 10. Theair-supply blower unit 8 and the exhaust blower unit 9 are set on asecondary side of the heat exchanger 10 and suck the air from the heatexchanger 10 out. The air-supply blower unit 8 and the exhaust blowerunit 9 are independent from each other, and an air-path partitioncomponent 12 isolates the air-supply blower unit 8 from the exhaustblower unit 9 so as not to intersect the air supply path 6 and theexhaust path 7 with each other.

A supply air flow passing through the air supply path 6 flows into thecasing 1 from the outdoor-side intake port 2 of the casing side surface1 c. The supply air flow flowing in the casing 1 passes through apre-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 a, the heat exchanger 10, and apost-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 b and is blown out to theindoor side from the indoor-side blowout port 3 provided in the casingside surface 1 d through an air-supply-blower-unit air path 6 c beforethe air-supply blower unit 8 and an air-supply blowout air path 6 dafter the air-supply blower unit 8. That is, the air supply path 6 isformed by the outdoor-side intake port 2, the pre-heat-exchanger airsupply air path 6 a, the heat exchanger 10, the post-heat-exchanger airsupply air path 6 b, the air-supply-blower-unit air path 6 c, theair-supply blowout air path 6 d, and the indoor-side blowout port 3.

An exhaust flow passing through the exhaust path 7 flows into the casing1 from the indoor-side intake port 4 of the casing side surface 1 c. Theexhaust flow flowing in the casing 1 passes through a pre-heat-exchangerexhaust air path 7 a, the heat exchanger 10, and a post-heat-exchangerexhaust air path 7 b and is blown out to the outdoor side from theoutdoor-side blowout port 5 provided in the casing side surface 1 dthrough an exhaust-blower-unit air path 7 c before the exhaust blowerunit 9 and an exhaust blowout air path 7 d after the exhaust blower unit9. That is, the exhaust path 7 is formed by the indoor-side intake port4, the pre-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 a, the heat exchanger 10,the post-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 b, the exhaust-blower-unitair path 7 c, the exhaust blowout air path 7 d, and the outdoor-sideblowout port 5.

An element rail holder 18 is provided between the air-supply blower unit8 and exhaust blower unit 9 and the heat exchanger 10. The element railholder 18 is opened in a portion closer to the casing side surface 1 aand closer to the casing top panel 1 f and a portion closer to thecasing side surface 1 e and closer to the casing bottom surface 1 b.That is, the element rail holder 18 connects the post-heat-exchanger airsupply air path 6 b to the air-supply-blower-unit air path 6 c andisolates the post-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 b from theexhaust-blower-unit air path 7 c. The element rail holder 18 connectsthe post-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 b to the exhaust-blower-unitair path 7 c and isolates the post-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 bfrom the air-supply-blower-unit air path 6 c.

Another element rail holder 19 is provided between the outdoor-sideintake port 2 and the indoor-side intake port 4. The element rail holder19 connects the outdoor-side intake port 2 to the pre-heat-exchanger airsupply air path 6 a and isolates the outdoor-side intake port 2 from thepre-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 a. The element rail holder 19connects the indoor-side intake port 4 to the pre-heat-exchanger exhaustair path 7 a and isolates the indoor-side intake port 4 from thepre-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 a.

The exhaust flow passes through the heat exchanger 10 from the upperleft toward the lower right in FIG. 2. The air supply flow passesthrough the heat exchanger 10 from the lower left toward the upper rightin FIG. 2. The air supply flow and the exhaust flow cross in the heatexchanger 10, whereby heat exchange is performed via partition wallsconstituting the heat exchanger 10.

During operation of the heat exchange ventilation apparatus, theheat-exchanger maintenance port 13 is closed by the panel 11 for heatexchanger maintenance. The panel 11 for heat exchanger maintenance is incontact with an end face of the heat exchanger 10 to prevent a leak ofthe air from occurring among the pre-heat-exchanger air supply air path6 a, the post-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 b, thepre-heat-exchanger exhaust path duct 7 a, and the post-heat-exchangerexhaust air path 7 b around the heat exchanger 10.

Maintenance for the heat exchanger 10 is performed through an inspectionport provided in a ceiling plate. The panel 11 for heat exchangermaintenance on the casing side surface 1 a is removed, and the heatexchanger 10 is inserted and pulled out from the heat-exchangermaintenance port 13 provided in the casing side surface 1 a.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the heat exchanger of the heat exchangeventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment. Note that, inFIG. 3, concerning the heat exchanger rails 15 set on the casing toppanel 1 f and the element rail holders 18 and 19, illustration of thecasing top panel 1 f and the element rail holders 18 and 19 is omitted.The heat exchanger 10 is slid along the heat exchanger rails 15 in adirection of an arrow A in FIG. 3 to be inserted into the casing 1, andis slid along the heat exchanger rails 15 in a direction opposite to thearrow A to be pulled out from the casing 1. In the following, operationsduring attachment and detachment of the heat exchanger 10 are explainedwith reference to the heat exchanger rail 15 set on the casing bottomsurface 1 b as an example. However, the same applies to the heatexchanger rail 15 set on the casing top panel 1 f and the heat exchangerrails 15 set on the element rail holders 18 and 19.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state before setting of a heat exchanger ofthe heat exchange ventilation apparatus according to the firstembodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the heat exchanger rail of theheat exchange ventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment.FIG. 6 is a side view of the heat exchanger rail of the heat exchangeventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is aperspective view of the heat exchanger rail of the heat exchangeventilation apparatus according to the first embodiment. The heatexchange ventilation apparatus includes stepped screws 17 that arefixing members fixed to the casing 1, each of which has a shaft 17 b anda screw head 17 a serving as a restricting portion formed at one end ofthe shaft with a larger size than a through-hole provided in the heatexchanger rail 15. The shafts 17 b are inserted through thethrough-holes and the stepped screws 17 are fixed to the casing 1,whereby the heat exchanger rail 15 is movably attached to the casing 1in a state in which the heat exchanger rail 15 is prevented from comingoff the stepped screws 17 by the screw heads 17 a. The heat exchangerrail 15 is attached to the casing bottom surface 1 b via a seal material16. That is, the seal material 16 is provided on a surface opposite to asurface of the heat exchanger rail 15 in contact with the heat exchanger10. In a state in which the heat exchanger 10 is not set, the heatexchanger rail 15 is retained in a state in which the heat exchangerrail 15 is in contact with the screw heads 17 a of the stepped screws 17by repulsion of the seal material 16 attached to the heat exchanger rail15.

The heat exchanger rail 15 is pressed against the screw heads 17 a ofthe stepped screws 17 by the repulsion of the compressed seal material16, whereby the heat exchanger rail 15 and the casing bottom surface 1 bare maintained while keeping an interval with a distance of a step ofthe stepped screws 17 being used as an upper limit. The heat exchangerrail 15 is movable in the axial direction of the stepped screws 17. Whena force directed to the casing bottom surface 1 b is applied to the heatexchanger rail 15, if the applied force is larger than the repulsion ofthe seal material 16, the heat exchanger rail 15 moves to approach thecasing bottom surface 1 b while compressing the seal material 16.

Note that, although the heat exchanger rail 15 is fixed by the steppedscrews 17, an interval between the screw heads 17 a and the casingbottom surface 1 b is only required to be kept at a fixed interval, andtherefore half screws having no steps in shafts 17 b can be also usedfor the fixation.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which the heat exchanger is attachedfor the heat exchange ventilation apparatus according to the firstembodiment. FIG. 9 is a front view of an engaging part between the heatexchanger and the casing bottom surface of the heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspectiveview of the engaging part between the heat exchanger and the casingbottom surface of the heat exchange ventilation apparatus according tothe first embodiment. The seal material 16 is attached to the casingbottom surface 1 b side of the heat exchanger rail 15. Therefore, whenthe heat exchanger 10 is inserted and pulled out, the heat exchangerframe 14 is slid on a surface of the heat exchanger rail 15 to which theseal material 16 is not attached and the heat exchanger frame 14.

When the heat exchanger 10 is inserted into the casing 1, the heatexchanger rail 15 is pushed down by the heat exchanger frame 14. Whenthe heat exchanger rail 15 gets away from the screw head 17 a and getsclose to the casing bottom surface 1 b, the seal material 16 iscompressed and a gap between the heat exchanger rail 15 and the casingbottom surface 1 b becomes narrowed. Therefore, there is no effectivegap and a leak of the air does not occur among the heat exchanger frame14, the heat exchanger rail 15, the seal material 16, and the casingbottom surface 1 b. Consequently, it is possible to prevent an air leakbetween the pre-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 a and thepost-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 b.

The same applies to the heat exchanger rail 15 provided on the casingtop panel 1 f and the heat exchanger rails 15 provided in the elementrail holders 18 and 19. Accordingly, it is also possible to prevent anair leak between the pre-heat-exchanger air supply air path 6 a and thepre-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 a, an air leak between thepre-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 a and the post-heat-exchanger airsupply air path 6 b, and an air leak between the post-heat-exchanger airsupply air path 6 b and the post-heat-exchanger exhaust air path 7 b. Asexplained above, the seal material 16 is set in a boundary between theair supply path 6 and the air exhaust path 7 and isolates the air supplypath 6 and the exhaust path 7 from each other.

Note that, by forming the seal material 16 from a material having a highadiabaticity, it is possible to block transformer of heat generatedbetween the air supply and exhaust paths and prevent dew condensation.

As explained above, in the heat exchange ventilation apparatus accordingto the first embodiment, by making the heat exchanger rails 15 holdingthe heat exchanger 10 to be movable, and closely attaching the heatexchanger rails 15 to the heat exchanger frames 14, even if variationsin size of the heat exchanger 10 are caused, the heat exchanger rails 15can be closely attached to the heat exchanger frames 14 based on therepulsion force of the seal material 16 according to the variations ofthe heat exchanger 10. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a leakbetween the supply air flow and the exhaust flow. In addition, becausethe heat exchanger rails 15 is made movable in the axial direction ofthe stepped screws 17, it is possible to easily slide, and pull out andinsert the heat exchanger 10 while the heat exchanger frames 14 and theheat exchanger rails 15 remain in contact with each other. Further,because the seal material 16 is not in direct contact with the heatexchanger frame 14, it is unlikely that the seal material 16 is notdamaged when the heat exchanger 10 is pulled out and inserted.

The configurations explained in the embodiment above indicate examplesof contents of the present invention. The configurations can be combinedwith other publicly-known techniques, and partially omitted or modifiedin a range not departing from the spirit of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   1 casing; 1 a, 1 c, 1 d, 1 e casing side surface; 1 b casing        bottom surface; 1 f casing top panel; 2 outdoor-side intake        port; 3 indoor-side blowout port; 4 indoor-side intake port; 5        outdoor-side blowout port; 6 air supply path; 6 a        pre-heat-exchanger air supply air path; 6 b post-heat-exchanger        air supply air path; 6 c air-supply-blower-unit air path; 6 d        air-supply blowout air path; 7 exhaust path; 7 a        pre-heat-exchanger exhaust air path; 7 b post-heat-exchanger        exhaust air path; 7 c exhaust-blower-unit air path; 7 d exhaust        blowout air path; air-supply blower unit; 9 exhaust blower unit;        10 heat exchanger; 11 panel for heat exchanger maintenance; 12        air-path partition component; 13 heat-exchanger maintenance        port; 14 heat exchanger frame; 15 heat exchanger rail; 16 seal        material; 17 stepped screw; 17 a screw head; 17 b shaft; 18, 19        element rail holder.

1. A heat exchange ventilation apparatus comprising: a box body forminga main body outer shell, inside which an air supply path and an exhaustpath are formed; an air-supply blower unit to generate an air supplyflow in the air supply path; an exhaust blower unit to generate anexhaust flow in the exhaust path; a detachable heat exchanger to performheat exchange between the air supply flow and the exhaust flow; asupporting member provided inside the box body to support the heatexchanger; and an elastic seal material provided between the supportingmember and the box body, wherein the supporting member is set to bemovable in a direction in which the supporting member compresses theseal material.
 2. The heat exchange ventilation apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the seal material is set in a boundary between the airsupply path and the exhaust path, and isolates the air supply path andthe exhaust path from each other.
 3. The heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to claim 1, comprising a fixing member including ashaft and a restricting portion formed at one end of the shaft to belarger than a through-hole provided in the supporting member, the fixingmember being fixed to the box body, wherein the shaft is insertedthrough the through-hole and the fixing member is fixed to the box body,thereby to movably attach the supporting member to the box body in astate in which the supporting member is prevented from coming off thefixing member by the restricting portion.
 4. The heat exchangeventilation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the fixing member isa half screw, and the restricting portion is a screw head.
 5. The heatexchange ventilation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a crosssection of the supporting member has a concave shape in which aridgeline of the heat exchanger is engaged, and the seal material isprovided on a surface opposite to a surface of the supporting member incontact with the heat exchanger.
 6. The heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the seal material is formed of amaterial having a high adiabaticity.
 7. The heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the seal material is formed of amaterial having a high adiabaticity.
 8. The heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to claim 3, wherein the seal material is formed of amaterial having a high adiabaticity.
 9. The heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the seal material is formed of amaterial having a high adiabaticity.
 10. The heat exchange ventilationapparatus according to claim 5, wherein the seal material is formed of amaterial having a high adiabaticity.